Joe Casey Talks Captain Victory And An Extended Preview Of #1

Hitting stores today is Captain Victory And The Galactic Rangers #1 from Dynamite. And we have Vampirella writer Nancy Collins chatting with series writer Joe Casey about tackling Jack Kirby’s creations. Also, we have an extended preview of the first issue.

NANCY COLLINS: What’s it like working on Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, arguably Jack Kirby’s last major comic book creation?

JOE CASEY: It’s great fun, actually. One of the best times I’ve had writing someone else’s creation in quite a while.

NC: How major an influence has Jack Kirby been on your other work, such as Ben 10, The Uncanny X-Men, and Wildcats?

JC: Kirby’s in my DNA, in so much as he’s influenced just about all of superhero comicbooks and probably heroic fiction in general in the last sixty or seventy years. So I don’t really pick him out as an influence on any particular project… he’s just there inside all of it.

NC: The premier issue has not one but three artists: Nathan Fox, Jim Rugg and Ulises Farinas. How did that come about, and will all three continue to work on the title in the future?

JC: They’ll all be back, in one way or another. Working on Captain Victory is like being a made man… once you’re in, you can never get out. That includes Michel Fiffe, Farel Dalrymple, Jim Mahfood, Benjamin Marra and Connor Willumsen, too… we’re all in this mafia together.

NC Your debut issue hits the ground running and is balls to the wall space opera from the very first panel. You serve up space battles, aliens, robots, clones, time travel and what appears to be alternate realities in the first 20 pages…what other science fiction tropes can readers look forward to in future issues?

JC: That’s not enough? Well, I think future issues actually expand out from the sci-fi tropes and take in other genres… like westerns, urban drama, detective stories, teen angst, surrealism, spy fiction… it’s all up for grabs in this book. All of the different artists working on it bring a wide variety of sensibilities and I wanna use ’em all!

NC: Will you be picking up the hints Kirby laid down in the final issue of the original Captain Victory series, that suggests that Victory has ties to Kirby’s The New Gods?

JC: That’s the big question, isn’t it? Let’s just say, I’m very conscious of the connection… not to mention a sucker for the implications. It’s the kind of thing I love about comicbooks — and this one, in particular. Read into that answer what you will.

NC: There is a dystopian thread wound throughout your initial storyline—will we seeing more of the ‘Command’ that originally sent Captain Victory into space in the first place?

JC: Absolutely. It’s a big component of what drives the plot. Captain Victory is a dedicated officer in the Ranger Corps. But what does that mean for him, personally? What has he sacrificed in order to get to where he is? And what’s at stake when things go wrong in the chain of command?

NC: Do you see Captain Victory as a superhero or a ‘space hero’ ala Captain Kirk or Master Chief?

JC: I kinda see him as more of a Horatio Hornblower-type. A space-faring adventurer with some entertainingly fascistic overtones.

NC: Before we go, do you have any other projects that fans should keep an eye out for?

JC: Not really. I’m so in the zone on Captain Victory right now, I just want everyone to check it out. I’m so proud of what we’ve done here, I’m proud that all these great artists are contributing to the story. It’s going to be an amazing book. One for the ages…!

CAPTAIN VICTORY AND THE GALACTIC RANGERS #1
Joe Casey (w) Nathan Fox, Jim Rugg, Ulises Farinas (a) Nathan Fox (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99 • Teen+
Joe Casey is one of the industries most popular writers having written for Marvel and DC, from The Uncanny X-Men to Superman, and many more best-selling titles, and most recently created and writes the acclaimed Sex series from Image Comics! Now he is tackling one of Jack Kirby’s greatest creations, Captain Victory! And this story will Blow! Your! Mind! Out of the hell of a cosmic firefight, Captain Victory is launched into an epic adventure that spans both space and time! All your favorites are here — as well as all-new enemies to face! Your new favorite cosmic comic book has finally arrived!

Has quietly been working at Bleeding Cool for over three years. He has written comics for Image, Top Cow, Shadowline, Avatar, IDW, Dynamite, Moonstone, Humanoids and Zenescope. He is the author of the Lucius Fogg series of novels and a published photographer.